ChemITC Annual Conference

Conference Draws Largest Crowd to Date

As the leaves became more colorful and the weather cooled off, there was no denying that autumn was here. ChemITC kicked off the season as it always does, bringing many great IT minds together for valuable discussions, content-rich sessions and abundant networking at its Annual Conference.

This year’s event proved to be the most successful to date, with more than 160 of the chemical industry’s foremost technology experts coming together from September 30 to October 2 at SAP Headquarters in Newtown Square, Pa. The conference focused on topics of critical importance to the chemical industry’s IT community, including benchmarking the use of IT, business intelligence technologies, cyber security, technology challenges facing member companies, advances in telecommunications technologies and the future direction of ChemITC and its strategic programs.

Among the event's highlights was a keynote address from Alan E. Barton, executive vice president of EHS and Sustainable Development at Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas. Alan shared his perspectives on Rohm and Haas’ journey to sustainability. The company is currently working with The Natural Step International to use their scientifically rigorous framework to evaluate opportunities to enhance Rohm and Haas’ environmental sustainability and awareness. During his address, Alan reminded attendees that while the chemical industry has always been conscientious in working toward sustainable business practices, there is still much more to be done.

As a premier venue for the industry’s highest ranking IT leaders, 25 ChemITC member CIOs participated in the CIO Roundtable, which fosters excellence among chemical company CIOs through the opportunity to share experiences, identify successful solutions and collectively address common IT issues. New to the CIO Roundtable this year were the CIO Program Update Sessions, which were offered in one-hour increments to present a glimpse at the excellent work underway within the Survey and Benchmarking Program, Cyber Security Program, Telecommunications Networking Group and Business Intelligence Technology Networking Group. In addition to quality time with the programs and the most abundant networking session yet, the CIOs were also treated to a reception and dinner hosted by Gold Level Affiliate Member IBM. Together, all of these sessions are deemed immensely beneficial to the participants and help shape the strategic agenda and future direction of ChemITC.

Each ChemITC Industry Networking Group was also on hand for full-day sessions during the Annual Conference. The Business Intelligence Technology Networking Group focused on applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analyzing and providing access to data, and how individual companies could use the technology to assist corporate strategies and product intensive functions. The Telecommunications group discussed current trends and innovations to further enhance global communications and support architectures in the chemical industry. Sessions included WAN acceleration, wireless infrastructure and network access control in support of acquisitions and divestitures.

ChemITC’s Survey and Benchmarking program enjoyed its largest turnout at a face-to-face meeting, with more than 27 ChemITC members in attendance. The Survey and Benchmarking program broke down the processes, outcomes and learnings from this year’s Annual IT Survey, and dedicated time to a total of 13 sessions, including efficient IT practices – doing more with less, Dow Corning’s service transparency program, finance and accounting practices and a number of other topics related to benchmarking the use of IT.

Just around the corner, the Cyber Security Program sessions were as dynamic and well-attended as ever. Approximately 60 people were on hand for the combination of IT and manufacturing control system security sessions that kicked off Tuesday morning and continued until lunch on Thursday. While the well-rounded agenda featured many topics that appealed to all, favorites included: preventing insider threats, using active directory in the process control environment, telecom critical infrastructure and cyber security, and enhanced email records management, as well as an update from the Risk Assessment and Preparedness (RAP) Team on Cyber Storm II and related after actions and the CFATS Risk-Based Performance Standards.

As always, ChemITC Affiliate and Associate members played an important role in the success of the Annual Conference. Serving as this year’s conference host, SAP presented a number of sessions as did IBM, Deloitte and Liquid Machines. The Department of Homeland Security also actively participated in the conference’s cyber security track, presenting on important topics such as the chemical sector roadmap and next steps, auditing and information security as it relates to CFATS.

This one-of-a-kind conference designed especially for chemical industry IT professionals truly had something for everyone. This year’s Annual Conference may be over but ChemITC members don’t have to wait until next fall to benefit from these types of interactions. Instead, we encourage you to become actively involved in one of ChemITC’s teams, so you can extend the networking and learning all year long. Please contact Panel Manager Bridgette Bourge for additional information.

Again, thank you to all those who attended and presented at this year’s conference. We hope it proved to be a valuable experience for all and look forward to seeing you again soon!